Seeing a movie outside is like a campfire story. You and your friends and family gather around a glowing screen on blankets or short chairs to sit back and relax. In August, a partnership of the Maple Leaf Community Council and Scarecrow Video, sponsored by Áegis Living, are running the fourth edition of Movies by the Tower. For three Saturdays there will be free movies in Maple Leaf Reservoir Park.

What would the world be without poetry today? Poetry, a quintessential art form, always needs more attention, affection, and appreciation. The Pongo Poety Project, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle, is just one of many that continues to keep this art form alive while fostering new writers into its environment.

The Evergreen Echo, a burgeoning PNW arts and culture publication, has secured fiscal sponsorship through Shunpike, a Washington-based arts organization that provides artists with equitable access to vital expertise, opportunities, and business services via their programs, such as Fiscal Sponsorship, ACES: Artists of Color Expo and Symposium, Shunpike Artist in Residence & Storefronts, and The Studio @ 2+U.

For their 30th Queer and Trans Film Festival, Three Dollar Bill Cinema is taking us back to 1996 when it all began. This event will be a mix of throwback favorites and some new shorts in the TRANSlations Shorts program. The festival will open with Beautiful Thing, which was the film that kicked it all off 30 years ago.

It’s opening night! Today marks the start of the Seattle Asian American Film Festival—a two-day affair held in Seattle at the Wing Luke Museum (International District) and Broadway Performance Hall (Capitol Hill), and followed by a week of virtual screenings for those who can’t attend in person. This year commemorates 50 years since the end of the Vietnam War (or “The American War” as it is known in Vietnam).

It is refreshing to have a press dedicated to queer stories. It is even better that these stories are so accessible. Many of Northwest Press' offerings are available digitally for download as well as in traditional paper and hardback. The price of each is much more affordable than the latest from the big publishers as well as in a beautiful package. There is something for everyone at Northwest Press, and as it says on much of their wonderful merch: Comics are for everyone. 

Whole Washington hosted their first philanthropy event to raise money and support toward universal health care. Many health professionals and volunteers joined recognizable political and nonprofit community leaders at The Historic Mt. Baker Community Center on May 17.

The saddest part about attending the Seattle International Film Festival is the moment you realize it’s almost over. I have gotten to see some unforgettable films this season, thanks to the diverse and unique sensibilities of the 26 SIFF Programmers, who began their research and selection process last August for this year's festival. SIFF 2025’s final weekend is now upon us, and there’s still time to take advantage of some of the must-see films, now showing at the five SIFF and SIFF-partner venues around the city.

JLH: [This show] is sort of like confirmation. And I think that’s been an experience for people. I’m also a Survivor. The experience of people coming in and asking, “Does this agree with me or not?”, and me feeling concerned and sensitive about how this feels for Survivors, because, again, the framing is not around Survivor experience. It’s around the document, the lack of documentation, and the protest around our systems of power that are definitely not serving. So almost an archival protest. The programming needed to be more of a deepening of conversations around survivors and their experiences.

On the surface, the works in  Jennifer Leigh Harrison’s show I’m Trying to Tell You Something: Breaking the Silence of Femicide Through Visual Art at Center on Contemporary Art (CoCA), belie the show’s heavy subject matter. In contrast, the work is light, largely abstract, not portraiture, with no obvious violence exhibited. In fact, the only works featuring human subjects are a performance by Harrison and two videos, where she partners with performers from Seattle Pole Dance. A closer look, however, reveals that Harrison’s work utilizes a unique data visualization, in addition to educational wall labels, to tell the stories of intimate partner violence (IPV) against women.

There's nothing quite like opening night. There's an electricity in the air as tents go up, marquees are set, and the staff makes final checks in their walkie talkies. Of course, it wouldn't be opening night of the Seattle International Film Festival (SIFF) without at least a drizzle of rain, which began coming down in earnest around the time the red carpet arrivals kicked off.

The 51st annual Seattle International Film Festival kicked off last night at the Paramount Theatre with a screening of Darren Thornton’s Four Mothers. The festival has grown immensely since its debut in 1976, where it showed 18 films. Now, over the next ten days through May 25, you can expect screenings of 245 films that span continents, criss-cross genres, and highlight brand new and longtime filmmakers alike.

Let me start by saying that 2025 is STILL the year of the bird! And with a world rife with bad news, it’s a great time to stretch your limbs, put down the phone, and get outside. There’s so much to learn about the world and about our bird friends!

I’ll start you off with some basic bird facts that you can whip out at your next Birdwatching hang out.

We come to experience cinema at its purest, at its strangest, and at its least glamorous. SIFF celebrates the highs, lows, and whoas of what the world of film has to offer. It can be a lot to take in, but there are ways to ensure your experience is the best it can be. As a person who has been to a couple of decades’ worth of SIFFs, I want to pass on what I’ve learned to make the fest the best experience for the novice and the expert, the casual movie fan and the diehard cinephile. Let's dive in to make the most of the best ten days of film in Seattle!

Heidi Grace Acuña presents Living Waling Waling, a fashion event celebrating the matriarchal power of the orchid. Amassing more than twenty artists across mediums in the total production of this show, expect upcycled fashion, eclectic dance performance, and a side of Filipino bites.  Heidi Grace Acuña is a multi-disciplinary artist who sublimes their sense of disconnect to explore topics of identity, culture, gender, and home. Acuña has a background in sculpture with a permanent piece at North Seattle College. Since the 2019 pandemic they have expanded their craft into other mediums like fashion.

Birdwatching used to be the go-to hobby for outdoorsy folks with a lot of free time, usually in addition to hiking or backpacking, but now the birdwatching phenomenon seems to have spread far and wide. People who aren’t usually big nature fans are heading outside to join in on the hunt for Virginia Rails and Great Horned Owls, even with little experience or interest in other nature hobbies. So what is it about birds that seems to have drawn in so many people? And why now? And how do you escape the dreaded birdwatching FOMO?

Digital matchmaking algorithms grow exhausting and disheartening, so it’s no wonder many hopeless romantics flock to tales of the ‘Ton with their lavish balls, promenades through the parks, and swoon-worthy, witty banter. 

The matriarch of such tales, Jane Austen, turns 250 years old this year. In celebration, Dacha Theatre is hosting a theatrical bash with a presentation of Emma, a contemporary, feminist take on Austen’s novel, written by Kate Hamill. 

This year marks the 30^th Anniversary of the Seattle Jewish Film Festival (SJFF), and the organizers and programmers are taking full advantage of the opportunity to celebrate Jewish history, culture, and ideas.

A symbol of love, unity and growth, pearls are the traditional gift for the 30th wedding anniversary celebrations and the organizers have decided to intertwine the theme of the pearl with this milestone year. SJFF is offering 30 films for 30 years, calling them “pearls of wisdom,” and you can find a wide variety of narrative, documentary, animated, and short films at this year’s festival.

April 2025 marks the 55th anniversary of Earth Month. What initially started as an environmental awareness day in the United States is now an annual celebration across the world. Over the years, billions of people have joined forces to continue educating while advocating for policies that better protect communities, habitats, and wildlife. This year, the theme—Our Power, Our Planet—calls for an increase in renewable energy generation.

In February, I was an instructor at an arts-infusion workshop for a group of Seattle Public School elementary teachers. The workshop was held at an amazing multi-arts space that I had no idea existed in Seattle: PublicDisplay.ART. Arts Impact, the organization I teach with, acquired the use of the multipurpose space at no cost—an arts space that can be reserved and used for FREE! “How is that possible?” I asked myself. I connected with Marty Griswold, the Publisher of PublicDisplay.Art (they also publish a hard-copy magazine) and he filled me in on all the details.